Department of City Planning
Streetsblog Basics
DCP Releases Timid Parking Reform Study for the Boroughs
A report from the Department of City Planning issued during the final days of the Bloomberg administration is a trove of data about parking, but a look behind the pretty maps reveals a department that remains focused on dictating the supply of parking spaces and reluctant to use its power to reduce traffic and improve housing affordability. Mayor de Blasio and his to-be-announced city planning commissioner will have to fix this backwards approach to turn parking reform into an effective tool for the administration's affordability agenda.
January 23, 2014
Queens CB 5 Set to Move Ahead With Bike Lane Planning, Plaza Construction
In Queens, Community Board 2 has garnered attention for its partnership with DOT on bike route planning. Immediately to the southeast, CB 5 has been busy working with the Department of City Planning on a parallel effort to map out routes in Ridgewood, Maspeth, and Middle Village that could receive bike lanes as soon as fall of next year.
August 28, 2013
DC’s Scaled-Back Parking Reforms Still Way More Ambitious Than NYC’s
For five years, Washington, DC, has been preparing a comprehensive rewrite of its zoning code -- including the elimination of parking minimums in areas well-served by bus or rail. Under pressure from opponents afraid it would make it harder for them to find on-street parking, DC planning chief Harriet Tregoning announced on Friday that the city will scale back its parking reforms. Now, parking mandates will be eliminated only in downtown and adjacent neighborhoods, and halved along transit-accessible corridors.
July 15, 2013
City Releases New Design Recommendations for Sidewalks
Last month at the the eighth Fit City conference, the same day DOT unveiled a new pedestrian wayfinding initiative, the city released an update to its Active Design Guidelines focusing specifically on sidewalk design. Although the new guidelines are just suggestions, the new document lays out a vision for how the city's sidewalks can be designed to encourage more walking, and it has the imprimatur of the mayor and the commissioners of transportation, city planning, health, and design and construction.
July 9, 2013
City Council Passes Changes to Manhattan Core Parking Regulations
This afternoon, the City Council passed the Manhattan Core parking text amendment with a vote of 47-0, with one abstention (Jessica Lappin). The zoning change, which modifies off-street parking rules in the densest parts of Manhattan, is as good as law now, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's approval basically a given.
May 8, 2013
Planning Commission Approves Manhattan Core Parking Regulation Changes
Yesterday, the City Planning Commission approved modifications to off-street parking regulations in the Manhattan Core, below East 96th Street and West 110th Street. Significant changes to the city's only parking maximums, which have helped cut down on traffic in the city's congested core since 1982, are on track for final approval from the City Council. Although the final proposal itself has not been released to the public by the Department of City Planning, the commission gave its unanimous approval.
March 21, 2013
As Vote Nears on Manhattan Parking Reforms, Will Stringer Weigh In?
The Manhattan core parking regulations, most notable for setting limits on parking construction below 96th Street since 1982, have been an effective tool for reducing traffic in New York's congested center. But the rules have also been plagued by loopholes and strange inconsistencies, like the persistence of minimum parking requirements for affordable housing. Recently, the Department of City Planning proposed significant adjustments to the rules, and while community boards have weighed in, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has yet to say anything on the issue.
March 14, 2013
LA Planners Leapfrog NYC DCP, Approve Plan With No Mandatory Parking
Angie reported this morning that Washington, DC, is moving to reduce mandatory parking requirements in much of the city, which should lower the cost of housing and curb traffic. Meanwhile, despite talk last year of wide-ranging parking reforms for New York's "inner ring" encircling the Manhattan core, the Department of City Planning has so far only managed to put forward a reduction of parking minimums in transit-saturated Downtown Brooklyn, the most screamingly obvious location.
December 14, 2012
Council Members Use Downtown Brooklyn Parking Reform as Bargaining Chip
Parking reform for Downtown Brooklyn -- which would take the mild but worthwhile step of cutting the district's mandatory parking minimums in half -- went before a City Council subcommittee on Monday. The fate of the proposal now comes down to council members Tish James and Steve Levin, who represent the area. The two representatives are talking tough and trying to get DCP to do more -- but what they want has little to do with parking policy.
November 28, 2012
DCP’s Changes to Manhattan Parking Rules: Real Reform or Trojan Horse?
After more than three years of work, the Department of City Planning has released its proposed changes to the rules governing off-street parking in much of Manhattan. Some parking experts are calling it a necessary step toward continued reform, while neighborhood watchdogs fear that DCP's proposed changes will ultimately lead to more driving in the city’s congested center.
November 15, 2012